Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Up 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price traded up 2.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $50.47 and last traded at $50.20. 4,377,340 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 9,979,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $46.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.91.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. On average, research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,320,000 after purchasing an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,509,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.